I was in SJ one day over the holidays and I thought that Axis tower looked pretty good. I'm a little concerned that it overwhelms the Hotel De Anza (that shot really minimizes the effect) but all-in-all I think it makes a nice addition to the skyline.

I was in SJ one day over the holidays and I thought that Axis tower looked pretty good. I'm a little concerned that it overwhelms the Hotel De Anza (that shot really minimizes the effect) but all-in-all I think it makes a nice addition to the skyline.

It's hard to overwhelm a big, pink building. Driving up Almaden Blvd, Axis is more of a backdrop than a focal point. The Axis addendum going in next to it will also be low-rise so that shouldn't obscure the De Anza from Santa Clara Street.

Yep, 790' is still huge for Oakland. Ordway is still the tallest today (404'... little more than half the ht. of 1930). I was stationed in Oakland in the 80's, so I knew about half the city pretty well.

1100 Broadway and Key System Building: Currently in the City's planning process, SKS Investments is proposing a LEED Silver rated (or higher) complex at 13th and Broadway that will restore the historic Key System Building and build a new 20-story Class A office building. The total building rentable building area will total 310,000 square feet of office space and 9,800 square feet of retail space. Construction is expected to begin in late 2008.

Friday, March 28, 2008Swig Co. eyes two new Oakland towers
Kaiser Center overhaul would add 1.3M square feet of office
San Francisco Business Times - by J.K. Dineen

Swig Co. wants to add 1.3 million square feet of new office space to the Kaiser Center in Oakland, seeking permission to knock down two buildings and replace them with a pair of towers that would shoot up 42 and 34 stories.

In the first step of an approvals process expected to take one to two years, Swig filed a "preliminary development plan" March 25. The plan, if approved, would allow Swig to replace the two "obsolete low-rise" structures along 20th and Webster streets with towers of 780,000 and 565,000 square feet, according to Swig Co. CEO Jeanne Myerson. The two existing buildings represent a total of 95,000 square feet and house a Longs Drugs and a 24-Hour Fitness, in addition to other retail uses.

The existing Kaiser Center office tower, garage and roof garden would remain and be incorporated into the new project.

Both developments would take place on the western portion of the site, with one tower rising at the corner of Webster and 20th streets, and a second tower rising at the corner of Webster and 21st streets. The proposal also calls for 22,000 square feet of new street level retail along 20th and Webster streets, although precise square footage and exact building location, size and design will be hammered out over the next year. As proposed, the redevelopment doesn't include any housing, which Swig had once considered building.

Since it's an office, wouldnt that make the buildings around 600 ft for the largest, and 500 for the shortest?

Friday, March 28, 2008
Oakland draws 13 proposals for ex-Army base
San Francisco Business Times - by Eric Young

Thirteen companies are vying to build new offices, upscale stores or other projects on Oakland's former Army Base, stoking hopes among redevelopment officials for an iconic development that will invigorate what is now a ho-hum assemblage of industrial buildings.

The developers include large national players like AMB Property Corp. and ProLogis and small local interests such as the Oakland Film Center. Redevelopment officials declined to provide details on the concepts that were submitted, saying that information will get a public airing before the City Council by June. City development officials, who issued a request for proposals after a plan by the Wayan brothers for a movie studio on the property fell through, told developers that they want to consider a wide range of projects.

Possible projects include warehousing or other logistics facilities, an upscale shopping center, office space for biotechnology, life sciences, film production, multimedia or green technology.

"We're quite satisfied with the level of interest we've received, primarily because there is such a wide range of development teams wanting to do a variety of things," said Gregory Hunter, deputy director of Oakland's Community and Economic Development Agency.

City officials and residents will follow the development proposals closely, given the size and strategic location of the base.

"It's a very very important property," said Nancy Nadel, the Oakland councilwoman whose district includes the base property. A new development there "could provide lots of jobs. There are all kinds of opportunities for that site. We want something that has some pizzazz."

Proposals for 108 acres on the Oakland Army Base have come and gone since the military abandoned the site in 1999. Past ideas floated for the area include a casino and hotel, a new Major League baseball park for the Oakland A's and state-of-the-art movie studio and retail center. One by one those ideas failed to gain traction either due to political opposition or difficulties in securing financing.

Meanwhile the Port of Oakland wants the land as well. The port, as it seeks to compete with other West Coast facilities, has already taken over about half the land of the army's former base. It would like the remaining 108 acres at the southeast base of the Bay Bridge for greater rail and warehouse capacity.

Port supporters like Steve Lowe say shipping and logistics uses at the Army base property make sense. "We're hoping a more industrial profile will emerge," said Lowe, a leader of the West Oakland Commerce Association. Concentrating industrial businesses on the base property will lead to greater efficiencies for trucks and other port users, he said. Oakland redevelopment officials have begun vetting the technical merits of the 13 proposals that were submitted earlier this month. A number of the companies interested in the Army Base -- such as AMB Property Corp., First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. and PCC Logistics -- specialize in warehouse, distribution or industrial facilities.

At least one developer, Dallas-based Hillwood, is known for high-rise condominiums, offices and mixed-use buildings.

The base, like many former military sites, needs environmental cleanup as well as new roads and modern infrastructure. In addition, the base sits on landfill, meaning new buildings may need piles or other costly foundation systems to meet seismic safety standards.

Oakland is already planning some developments for other areas of the Army Base. The city is negotiating for an auto mall that includes dealerships from BMW, Volvo and General Motors on 28 acres on the base's northern boundary. Another 15 acre parcel likely will be leased to Oakland Maritime Support Services for a trucking center.

San Jose and a team of developers have agreed to a $132 million deal that sets the stage for a major league soccer stadium near the airport as early as 2010.

Terms of the deal must still be formally approved by the city council next month. But Monday's financial agreement between city officials and Earthquakes owner Lew Wolff and his partners is a giant step toward building the stadium and an accompanying retail, office and hotel project on the 75-acre site on Coleman Avenue.

"If and when we pull it off, it is going to make me feel - well, at my age, that would be a great accomplishment," the 72-year-old Wolff said from his Los Angeles office. "It would cap off a long time of development in San Jose." Wolff developed downtown San Jose's Fairmont and Hilton hotels and also owns the Oakland A's, for whom he is working to build a new stadium in Fremont.

San Jose leaders also cheered the tentative agreement Monday because it would funnel at least $17 million into the city's general fund - which is perennially racked by deficits.

According to terms of the deal, Wolff and his partners would pay $132 million for 66 acres of the former FMC manufacturing plant. Of that, about 18 acres will be set aside for the 18,000-seat soccer stadium and parking.

The city bought the land in 2005 for $81 million.

Wolff and his team have until 2010 to pay the city the bulk of the sale price. In the interim, they have agreed to pay interest

that San Jose will accrue on the bonds it sold to buy the property - as much as $12 million over the next two years. And Wolff must extend the city a $3 million letter of credit that would be payable if he walks away early from the deal.
Edenvale townhomes

The FMC deal is just one of several complex steps that must happen before Wolff can build the stadium.

The real estate magnate is counting on the city to rezone 78 acres of commercial and industrial property he owns in Edenvale to allow developers to build as many as 1,500 townhomes there. Wolff plans to pay for the soccer stadium with the profit from selling the Edenvale property as residential land.

But first, the land must undergo an environmental review, expected to be completed this summer, and Wolff must come to an agreement with a residential developer. The city would need to amend its general plan to allow any rezoning from industrial to residential - which is not likely for at least a year.

Paul Krutko, the city's chief development officer, said Wolff has received no guarantees that the council will agree to rezone the Edenvale land.

But the sale of the FMC property would allow the retail, office and 300-room hotel project to proceed, regardless of whether the soccer stadium gets built.
"Whether the stadium happens or not, this is a good land deal that will result in significant commercial and office development," said Councilman Sam Liccardo, who represents the area. "If the stadium doesn't happen, we are still better off than if we did not conduct the deal."

The Earthquakes left San Jose in 2005. The team's latest incarnation began play earlier this month; for the next few years, it will play its home matches at Santa Clara University.

BART facility

Wolff has also agreed to buy the remaining 9.3 acres of the FMC site for $18 million. The Valley Transportation Authority, however, has expressed interest in that portion for a Bay Area Rapid Transit maintenance facility, should BART eventually be extended to San Jose.

Krutko said the city will ask VTA to counteroffer or else try to buy the property later from Wolff and his partners, who also include developers Ed Storm and Deke Hunter, Gap heir John Fisher and the owners of the San Jose Sharks.

Mayor Chuck Reed has called for San Jose to stop converting industrial land to housing, saying the loss of jobs-producing land worsens the city's deficits. But he also has argued the economic benefits of a stadium outweigh those concerns.

Monday's deal, he said, "means we are going to have a pretty good shot at getting a soccer stadium, and we ultimately should get a substantial economic benefit from the development of the property."